Thanksgiving turkey was in the oven, smelled delish...but seemed to be getting done way ahead of schedule. Okay...so adjusted the schedule and started doing some of the last minute sides.... Checked the bird again and the bake element (the heating element on the bottom of the oven) is on fire.

Yes, flames. Very festive if I wasn't in the middle of making Thanksgiving dinner!

We surmise that as the element was burning out, it overheated, causing the bird (at least the top half of it) to cook quickly...a good thing since once we had the Yule fire in the oven, it was out of commission.

Dinner was saved, the sides were served, dishes are cleaned up...

...but the bake element is pitted, melted and otherwise burned out.

Does anyone know if you can replace just the bake element in a 19-yr-old Hotpoint Range? Or is this gonna mean a new oven?

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"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Is one of the kind that just plugs into the back of the oven? The only problem, and I have had this too, the range is 19 years old. You could check with a hotpoint distributor and see if they can order/find one for you or as I had to do, find one at a used appliance store where it is amazing the parts they have when they strip down old appliances. I would never have thought about that option until the appliance dealer told to try it.

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No Heaven can be Heaven if my cats are not there to welcome me

It looks like it just plugs in, but in the instruction booklet it just says that the element can be raised (not specifically unplugged and removed) for cleaning underneath it--and when we tried to remove it, we couldn't get it to budge. We didn't want to ruin any wiring in the plug, though, so we didn't really crank on it....

Our electric coop actually does appliance repair, so maybe they'll have a spare And instructions on how to get the blasted (literally :laughing) thing out! Thanks, qmc!

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

I'll have to get back to you on that one. In all honesty, Iwasn't the one to remove it. I had a friend do it and I will check to see how it was done. For some reason though, I think no. I did just check my oven though, and there is a plate around the end of the coil where it enters the oven. Get back to you.
Too bad about Thanksgiving:sad:

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No Heaven can be Heaven if my cats are not there to welcome me

The dinner was good! The breast meat and drumsticks were done to perfection It must've gotten real hot at the top of the oven, though, cuz it was done 90 minutes ahead of schedule and the bottom of the bird wasn't quite done...

The only dicey part was watching the flames and hoping they died down before setting the bird on fire! Luckily they extinguished pretty quickly once I thought to turn the blasted oven off.

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

OK Hazel, this is what I got and I hope it makes sense to you.
To get the element out, you have to remove the back of the range and you should see where both the upper and lower elements come out. There are 2 screws holding the plate that holds the element in place and once those are removed, the element should be free to be removed.
I was told Home Depot has a huge supply of replacement parts and to take the element with you to compare as some other brand may fit.
Oh, and I was also told to "unplug the stove" Gee, now why didn't I think of that
Hope that helps. You do know this is the blind trying to help a semi sighted person

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No Heaven can be Heaven if my cats are not there to welcome me

We feel like the Pilgrims must have--cooking over an open flame! At least the turkey didn't catch fire...that would have been really bad cuz when I checked the fire extinguisher, it had lost its charge.

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Hazel been there... done that...except mine was ON Christmas day! And I did say that the fire trucks lights were very festive

The firemen were going to use a smoke extractor on the oven,,,and I said but I've been cooking that bird for six hrs.....can't u save it? The guy said where are your oven mitts? And he putt them on and pulled out the bird. A nice smoked turkey! And do u know how expensive smoked turkey is to buy? LMBO

So now when my friends hear I'm cooking a big turkey meal, they ask me if I have let the fire department know.

I did ask the firemen if they'd like to take some cookies back to the firehall with them. They did! LOL

Maybe if u googled the net, u might be able to find instructions on the make of your oven and how to get the element out.

Debbie

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~Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits~

I was gonna do it, but as the guy was talking me through how to do it (yes, he, too, reminded me to unplug the oven first! ), he mentioned that if the coil had taken out the thermostat as well, we might as well get a new oven since the repair would cost a lot. After tossing figures around for a while it became apparent that hiring him to come check the thermostat and/or replace the coil would actually be cost-effective: if the thermostat was shot, we'd only be out the cost of the service call; if it was just the element, it would be the service call plus the $30 part; and in neither case would there be any hospital bills when hubby and/or hazel fried themselves trying to do it themselves.

So we had Bob the Appliance Guy come out this afternoon. Took him about 10 minutes. It was just the element--and since hubby watched over his shoulder, hubby now thinks he can replace it himself if it goes out again!

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."